With funding of £625,000 from the Big Lottery Scotland and the The Spirit of 2012 Trust, the Volunteer Support Pot (VSP) was created to help support volunteers -  as Clyde-siders or ceremonies volunteers - to fulfill their roles during the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.
This research commissioned by Volunteer Scotland has assessed the extent to which the aims and objectives of the fund were achieved and the lessons to be learned for future events. Online surveys and telephone interviews with many of the 2177 people supported by the VSP have helped the research team to conclude that

Headline findings from the research suggests that :The simplicity and lack of bureaucracy in the funding model was a key strength.

• Without this funding support 63% of recipients would have withdrawn from their volunteering role, or only performed part of it.
• More than half (58%) of respondents felt that the VSP had a ‘significant’ or ‘major’ impact on their ability to volunteer.
• In terms of legacy, 58% of respondents thought that their experience at the Games was likely to increase their commitment to volunteering.

• The simplicity and lack of bureaucracy in the funding model was a key strength. However, more transparent allocation criteria would have helped to manage expectations better.
• The impact of award values of £50 or less was significantly weaker. This problem was most acute for Clyde-siders outside Scotland where the average value of award was lower, yet the costs to volunteer were higher due to distance travelled.
• In future, the VSP fund could be used not just to retain volunteers who had already applied to volunteer at the Games, but also to attract those put off applying due to the cost.

Further information and research conclusions can be found on the Volunteer Scotland website.

The Report's Executive Summary can be found here.  Read the full report 

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